Droid 1 vs. Droid X | First Impressions

I just upgraded from the original Droid to the Droid X. Since PCWorld’s article comparing the original Droid and the new Droid X is just sad, I decided to do my own comparison. I’ll do my best to list some first impressions, and highlight the key differences between the phones, based on actually owning and using both of them.

For all of the feature-comparison-table lovers out there:

	Droid 1	Droid X
OS	Android 2.1 (Google Experience)	Android 2.1 (MotoBlur)
Battery (yes, different sizes)	1400 mAh Li Ion 3.7v (Model BP6X)	1540 mAh Li Ion 3.7v (Model BH5X)
Weight (Measured)	169g	150g
Camera	5 MP	8 MP
Recording	DVD quality (720×480)	HD 720p (1280×720)
Wifi	802.11 b,g	802.11 b,g,n
Predictive Text	Android	Swype
HDMI Out	No	Yes
FM Tuner	No	Yes
Keyboard	Hardware/Software	Software
LCD Size	3.7-in.	4.3-in.
LCD Resolution	480×854	480×854
Processor	OMAP3430 550 MHz	OMAP3630 1 GHz
RAM	256 MB	512 MB
Internal Memory	256 MB	6.5 GB
External Memory	16 GB microSD	16 GB microSD
Hard Button Order	Back|Menu|Home|Search	Menu|Home|Back|Search
i can haz root?	Yes	Yes
Linpack MFLOPS	4.510 (2.1) 12.707 (2.2)	8.265 (2.1) 13.64 (2.2)

Screen

Obviously, the first thing I noticed about the Droid X was the giant, beautiful screen. Even though both phones have the same resolution, the X has a bigger screen, so everything on the X’s screen just looks bigger. This makes the on-screen keyboard (especially in the vertical position) much more usable on the Droid X over the Droid 1, which has narrower keys. MotoBlur’s icons seem big and bubbly, and the widgets just look downright ugly and blocky. It is really nifty to be able to resize the widgets, unfortunately most of them look cartoonish and awkward. Comparing the screens side-by-side, I noticed the Droid 1 had a slight greenish tint, while the Droid X had a slight blueish tint. With the brighness maxed, the Droid X’s screen appears much brighter too.

Update: I notice that the odd bulge on the back of the Droid X actually tilts the phone forward just enough to help prevent the orientation of the screen from changing when lying the phone down, screen facing up – a problem I had with the Droid 1.

Buttons

The next thing to notice, which also quickly became very annoying, is the new hard-button order. After going almost one year with the [intutive] order of Back|Menu|Home|Search on the Droid 1, I was pretty comfortable using those keys without even thinking about it. Now, I must get used to Menu|Home|Back|Search on the Droid X. Even after several days, I’m still confusing the Back and Menu buttons. Going back to the keyboards for a minute, I really didn’t use the hardware keyboard on the Droid 1 much, but I gladly and quickly whipped it out when the on-screen keyboard got annoying – I mainly used it as a backup keyboard.

Update: It doesn’t take long to get used to the new button order, and I haven’t really missed the hardware keyboard since the Droid X’s screen makes typing easier.

Applications/Settings

Next, opening up the app drawer looks very similar to Droid 1’s, except there are many more crap-apps that come installed by default (Blockbuster, CityID, SocialNetworking…). Navigating around in the Settings menu is also similar to Droid 1’s, with a few extra settings buried here and there. To name a few: Battery Manager can reduce display brightness and data usage at night; Smart Profile: Face Down offers can set a silent profile if the phone is placed face down; Media Audio Effects offers minimal equalizer settings; Swype is installed but disabled by default.

Update: Playing some Digitally Imported radio side-by-side, the Droid 1 has a much louder speakerphone than the Droid X, and almost completely drowns it out.

Durability

Holding the phones one in each hand, the Droid X is noticeably thinner and lighter. The Droid 1 feels much more solid and sturdy though. The thick, almost bare-metal, casing surrounding the Droid 1 (along with it’s heavier weight) makes it just feel like it could take a beating (it has after nine months of using it!).  Compared solely to the Droid 1, the Droid X is thinner, lighter and has a sort of plastic feel, giving the impression that it is more fragile.

Update: Handling solely the Droid X for a few days, it doesn’t really feel plastic, but quite strong. I guess it is the mindset that heavier is stronger, which [gladly] isn’t always the case.

Customization

After seeing the light, and rooting my Droid 1, I am a little nervous about the Droid X being left in the dark. Hopefully, it will just be a matter of time before the Droid X gets rooted. This is important because rooting my Droid 1 breathed new life into it – it’s overclocked to 800 MHz and runs Android 2.2, making it actually feel as fast as the stock Droid X. If the BuglessBeast ROM wasn’t running now on my Droid 1, the gap between the two phones would be much larger.

Update: Nixing MotoBlur for LauncherPro has drastically improved my experience with the Droid X. Thankfully, at least I can still choose any launcher app –  I do recommend LauncherPro!

Battery Life

From comments below: “For a quick and dirty observation right now, I’d say the Droid X does have slightly better battery life.” I’ll try to do a good in-depth comparison soon…

Update: As usual, AnandTech produces another excellent review – this time of the Droid X. Here are the average hours of the three General Battery Life benchmarks they did:

• Droid 1:    5.96 hours
• Droid X:   7.22 hours

Should you get a Droid X?

Actually, have to agree with PCWorld’s statement

…the Droid X should really not be seen as a sequel to the original Droid but rather a different model of smartphone altogether.

As a Droid 1 user since November 6th (launch day!), all I can say is that, the more I use the Droid X, the more I actually like it over the Droid 1. There are definitely pros/cons either way, as I am still getting used to the swapped hard-buttons and no keyboard, but the screen – oh my, the screen is amazing. With Swype pre-installed and a larger screen, I don’t really miss the hardware keyboard.

The Droid 1 is by no means outdated in my opinion, and both phones will get Android 2.2 eventually, but putting an overclocked custom Android 2.2 ROM on there really keeps it competitive to today’s phones. If you don’t want to mess with custom ROMs on the Droid 1, then I believe that the Droid X is a worthy upgrade over the Droid 1. I am one who does want to mess with custom ROMS, so I can only hope that this will eventually happen on the Droid X. If not, well the awesomely large screen alone might make up for it…

I’ll continue to update this post as I think of more things, so stay tuned!

Update: While this post is simply a comparison, I bow down to AnandTech’s “thorough” review of the Droid X.

Update 2: Yes.

Update 3 (July 2012): Upgraded the DroidX to a GSIII, and WOW.